NAD: Marshall DBS 7400!

[NicJimBass]

I've been a lifelong Gallien-Krueger fanboy and user, having owned several of their amps and cabs over the years, and I figured I would use them forever. Lately though, I've been less and less satisfied with the tone of my 700RB-II. I can't put my finger on one specific thing I was unsatisfied, except maybe that it felt as though the GK didn't have enough headroom. Through the years, I've ventured out a little, first with a Music Man (Markbass) HD500 and then earlier this year a Hartke LH1000. Even though I couldn't find "my tone" with the Hartke (like I can with nearly any GK head), the thing that stuck with me was the feeling of having nearly unlimited headroom (I was using it bridged into 2-8ohm cabs)... it was intoxicating!

I stumbled across a used Marshall DBS 7400 at my local GC... found it on their used site, and went yesterday afternoon to try it out. It's a little worse for wear, but being that it's from '96 or '97, it's not terrible... I'll just say it has some mojo...lol. Anyway, playing in the bass room was a crapshoot... had a couple other people trying stuff out, so I didn't want to push it and blast anyone out of the room. I snagged it and took it home, and was able to mess around for a while on it. I'll be taking it to my gig tonight, and that will be the true test, but as of right now, I really like this thing. I can dial in "my tone" or something very close to it, like the GK, and yet it feels like the amp wll take anything I throw at it and laugh heartily while it reproduces it with ease (this head is rated 400watts RMS, 4,000watts peak!!!)... the same feeling I got with the Hartke. It seems I've found the best of both worlds, which is what I've been searching for for a looong time! I'll report back after the gig!

[NicJimBass]

Played my first gig with the Marshall, and I really like it. Suprisingly, the tube pre really makes a huge difference in the tone. I say suprisingly as I've played a couple heads wth tube pre's before, and while it may have added a small amount of warmth to the tone, it was never enough to make a real difference between it and an amp with no tube. Ths Marshall seems, in my mind (having never played one), close to what an all-tube head might sound like. The tone was very warm, and seemed to envelope everything... like a nice big pillow. The EQ is very flexible, allowing a ton of tone shaping, and I found myself cutting the low frequencies through the night, as this thing seems to have lows to spare. I have a couple gigs this weekend, so I'll be able to dial it in more, but as of now, I'm not sure how these things came and went so quickly... maybe they were expensive new... this is a great head!